The latest on California politics and government

June 13, 2011

A group of Senate Republicans who have been involved in budget negotiations with Gov. Jerry Brown today released specific demands they want included in any deal that garners their support for a special election on taxes.

The list, issued by Sens. Anthony Cannella, Tom Berryhill, Bill Emmerson, and Tom Harman, details concessions the group is seeking on a spending cap, state pensions, environmental protection laws and state regulations.

With just two days until the June 15 deadline for the Legislature to approve a budget, Brown has yet to secure the two Republican votes in each house needed to ask voters to approve temporary income, sales and vehicle tax rates. In March, release of a similar list of negotiation points signaled an impasse in work towards a deal.

The group said in a statement that there is "significant agreement between Republicans and the Governor on the vast majority of those reforms" they are seeking, but blamed Democratic legislators for failing to agree to the proposals and seeking to extend for several months the higher tax rates set to expire until an election can be held.

"It is clear now, as it has always been, that the only impediment to resolving this budget crisis and putting the tax question before the voters as the Governor has committed to, are the Democrats and their special interest allies," the statement said.

Mark Hedlund, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, said the proposal for legislators to extend the taxes first shouldn't be blamed for the lack of a deal.

"There's only one reason for a need for the bridge funding and that is because the governor and the Republicans weren't able to come to an agreement on putting the taxes before the voters earlier," he said.

Steinberg indicated to reporters today that the upper house will move forward with a plan that does not include Brown's tax proposal if Republican support for a tax bridge and election fails to materialize by Wednesday.

"I hope that over the next couple of days a couple of Republican members really think through the implications of their position for education and for public safety especially, but we will get our job done by June 15," he said.